HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAO-07-044 - New Corporate Customer Service Program
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Report To: Chair Vrbanovic and Members of Finance and Corporate
Services Committee
Date of Meeting: September 24, 2007
Submitted By: Customer Service Committee
Prepared By: Jeannie Murphy
Wards}Involved: ALL
Date of Report: September 12, 2007
Report No.: CAO-07-044
Subject: New Corporate Customer Service Program
RECOMMENDATION:
That Council approve the Corporate Customer Service Program as outlined in the attached
Business Case and staff report CAO-07-044, dated September 12, 2007, and
That the operating and capital budgets required to implement phase one of the Customer
Service program in 2008 be referred to the 2008 budget process; and
That upon final budget approval, implementation of phase one of the Corporate Call Centre
proceed immediately.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Results from both the 2003 Contact Centre Feasibility Study and the 2004 Citizen Survey indicate
that customer service approaches across the City of Kitchener are not integrated or consistent. The
findings from the survey indicate a need to improve customer service at the City as citizen
expectations are increasing. Citizens would like the Corporation to enhance staff training to increase
knowledge and customer service skills, and to improve the phone system, particularly with a live
voice to answer calls. They also suggested having a single point of contact for information and
services that will be provided in a timely and consistent manner. The results of the Environics survey
reinforce and support these findings. A Corporate Call Centre will address these needs.
Benefits of the Proposed Corporate Call Centre to Citizens
A Corporate Call Centre will effectively manage increased demands from citizens by implementing
a centralized single point of contact. The primary benefit of implementing a Corporate Call Centre
is being able to provide increased accessibility to City information and service and enhance
customer service to our citizens. Public confidence in local government can be linked to service
experiences with the government.
Specifically, the changes or improvements that citizens will experience when they call the City
include:
• 24 / 7 live person
• No voicemail or automated menus to choose from
• Knowledgeable, well trained CSR's
• More calls answered on first contact -less transfers to other departments
• Single number to call when contacting the City of Kitchener
• Consistent, up to date information given out to all citizens
• Increased accountability through tracking of service requests
Benefits of the Proposed Corporate Call Centre to the City
The City will initially incur operating budget increases to fully staff the new Corporate Call Centre
and Welcome Centre. The bottom line is that customer service costs money. However, some
efficiency may be gained by consolidating formerly dispersed services across the organization into
one unit, gaining economies of scale by deploying and maximizing available technology, and by
selecting and training staff specifically in the operations of the Centre. Citizen requests will also be
tracked and reported on a regular basis providing feedback on the performance of the organization.
With respect to staffing levels, the intent is to transfer funding for the customer service
representatives (CSR's} from the divisions which are integrating into the Corporate Call Centre,
thereby minimizing the financial impact of this initiative.
Why use the Kitchener Utilities Model?
The decision to create a Corporate Call Centre based on the call centre model currently in place for
the gas utility was based in part on the efficiencies the corporation would gain from expanding a
model that had much of the infrastructure and processes in place to improve our service levels.
Rather than recreating the wheel and searching for external models, the Utilities model was
examined in detail and was assessed as to whether it will meet the needs of the other City
divisions. The approach was to first establish criteria under broad categories of physical space and
business process compatibility and then to measure the model against the criteria. Once this
analysis was complete, it was determined that based on these categories, the Utilities model did
meet the needs of the other City divisions.
BACKGROUND:
Like many public sector organizations, the City of Kitchener has experienced increasing
demand for easy, convenient access to services. Citizens First 4, a national survey of citizen
expectations, satisfaction levels, and priorities, identified a link between service quality and
citizens' confidence in government. Taxpayers judge local government and municipal
performance based in part on the delivery of service. When municipal service does not
meet taxpayer expectations, citizens may feel resistance to paying taxes or accepting
tax increases.
According to Citizens First 4, five drivers of satisfaction explain over 75% of satisfaction or
dissatisfaction with service. Those drivers are:
• timeliness (how satisfied citizens are with the time it takes to get service};
• knowledge staff are knowledgeable);
• extra mile (staff are courteous and go the extra mile};
• fair treatment (citizens felt they were treated fairly); and,
• outcome (end result-did the citizen get what he or she needed).
To better gauge the current customer service delivery methods at the City, a Feasibility Study,
prepared by R. Bosch Consulting in 2003. The findings indicate that in most cases, customer
service is treated as a peripheral function and not the `core' activity within the divisions. As a
result, customer service approaches are inconsistent across the divisions that were reviewed.
The Customer Service Committee also commissioned a study of Kitchener citizens to
determine their experiences and expectations with the Corporation's customer service. On
average, citizens reported being satisfied with the amount of time it took for them to get what
they needed, the accessibility of the service, and their overall experience with the Corporation.
However, nearly half of the citizens said they experienced difficulties when they tried to
contact the City. Citizens said that they would like the Corporation to enhance staff training to
improve knowledge and customer service skills, and to improve the phone system, particularly
with a live voice to answer calls. While the City is doing well in many instances, improvements
are needed to meet citizens' expectations consistently.
In 2005, the City hired Environics Research Group to conduct an extensive community survey
on resident's social values and their vision for the City over the next twenty years. As part of
that survey Environics asked residents several questions directly related to the City's
customer service delivery. The results of the 2005 Environics survey reinforced the results of
the previous customer service survey and clearly indicated that while a majority of residents
have been generally satisfied with the City's customer service delivery; nearly half of them
have experienced difficulties when trying to contact the City.
A Corporate Call Centre presents an opportunity to improve service delivery, increase citizens'
satisfaction with enhanced customer service, and to become more consistent and efficient as
an organization with respect to how we deliver services.
REPORT:
In response to the 2003 feasibility study, the 2004 customer survey and focus groups, a
business case was presented to Council in June 2005. It recommended that regardless of
which customer service delivery model was selected, a customer service foundation was
required in order to begin improving customer service across the Corporation. Council
approved the implementation of the foundation. A list of the Foundation components and
their current status is shown in the following table:
Ptrtdation Component Complete Incomplete Comments
Customer Service Philosophy
customer Service standards: [~ Mill to be rolled out to the
for oration
Mire a Customer Service ® customer Service Project
Manager- Manager secondment
created as an interim step;
included in the
implementation plan othis
business case
improve signage at City ~-lall
fie-development of the City ~ deferred to a separate
website Internet / ntranet~ Website project team
create a customer Service Q Included in the
welcome Counter at City I~al implementation plan of this
business case
customer ervie tools (i., ~ FAQ', 0 (City- Will be investigated as part
FAQ's, telephone upgrades,; telephony wide CRM f Phase 1 of this project,
FPM software upgrades software} but not implemented until
Phase 2 of the.. ro`ect
review c~ City listings n tf~e Blue
Pages
customer Servietraning Q vllill be rolled out in
module conjunction with the
Customer Service
Standards.
Reduction in D~Ds x^ implementation timing to be
determined
Proposed Corporate Call Centre
A Corporate Call Centre is the next step required to improve customer service at the City of
Kitchener. The implementation of a Corporate Call Centre has been divided into two phases.
Phase 1-Transitional Call Centre
Phase 1, which is the focus of this report and business case, transitions some of the existing
decentralized call centres into a Corporate Call Centre by expanding the existing Kitchener
Utilities dispatch centre located at Elmsdale Drive into a new Corporate Call Centre. This new
Corporate Call Centre will be a separate division operating under Financial Services. The
Kitchener Utilities dispatch centre will cease to exist but its Customer Service Representatives
CSR's}, equipment and systems will be transferred to the new Division. Citizens will continue
to call the existing phone numbers for the various divisions; however, the phone calls will now
be answered 24 / 7 by a live voice in the Corporate Call Centre.
Phase 1 is estimated to be completed by October 2008. The time-line for integration for "Go
Live" date) into the Corporate Call Centre for the first three divisions will be:
• Enforcement May 2008
• Legislative Services June 2008
• Operations September 2008
In addition, a new Customer Service welcome Centre will be added adjacent to the Rotunda
in City Hall to help direct visitors and answer walk-in inquiries. The Centre will also have a
Tourism representative to support Kitchener tourism. The two representatives will be able to
provide full coverage for face-to-face inquiries at all times during business hours. Capital
funds are currently available for the renovations required to accommodate the Welcome
Centre in the Rotunda and as such, work will proceed at the end of 2007 in readiness for
implementation in 2008.
All other counter services will remain at the existing locations.
Phase 2 -Corporate Call Centre
Phase 2 will continue transition of all remaining decentralized call centres (Revenue,
Recreation, all other remaining front-line business processes} into the Corporate Call Centre
with a goal of being able to answer 80% of the calls on first contact without transferring the
call. There will be one City phone number ~i.e. 741-CITY/2489) for all non-emergency
municipal services which be answered by the Corporate Call Centre. Existing Direct-dial-in
(DID) numbers will be eliminated.
The location of the Corporate Call Centre will reside within the Consolidated Maintenance
Facility (CMF) should it be approved by Council. If the CMF proposal does not receive
approval by Council other locations will be evaluated.
Counter services will remain at the existing locations and a study will be done to examine the
feasibility of expanding payment and inquiry services to satellite locations such as the
Community Centres to provide citizens with more options for face-to-face inquiries with the
City. The implementation plan for Phase 2 will be created at a later date and is not a part of
this business case.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
Phase 1 of this project will incur estimated new operating costs of $107,494 and capital costs of
$143,500.
The operating costs will be funded partially from the tax base ($88,773) and partially from
sewer operations ($18,722). Two FTEs to be transferred have not been specifically identified,
but there is a commitment to manage the budget target either through a transfer of FTEs or
efficiencies in the program.
The capital costs will be fully funded from the existing Customer Service capital account.
COMMUNICATIONS:
The Corporate Communications team would work with the customer service project manager
to develop a detailed communication strategy once the project is approved by Council. It will
include the following components:
Phase 1 Internal Communications Plan
Communication to staff of the divisions who will be transitioning to the Corporate Call
Centre in Phase 1; this will include timing, what is expected of them regarding process
mapping and transition, and clarification around job roles
Communication to the rest of the Corporation with an update on the status of the project
Phase 2 External Communications Plan
Marketing strategy to promote awareness in the public of the 741-CITY phone number
and its benefits
Continuing communications to affected staff and the Corporation as a whole
CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, implementing a Corporate Call Centre will transform how citizens obtain services and
information from the City and enhance customer service across the Corporation. Citizens will now
receive 24 / 7 service provided by knowledgeable and well trained CSR's. There will be more calls
completed on first point of contact without transfers to other divisions of the organization.
Once the Corporate Call Centre is transitioned to the 741-CITY number in Phase 2, citizens will find
it easier to reach the City since there will be only one number to call, eliminating the need for the
long list of numbers in the Blue pages.
Staff will be better equipped to answer citizen questions through such tools as Customer Service
training, online search tools and a regularly updated knowledge base.
Once the implementation plan and budget have been approved, the most critical next step to make
this a reality is to hire or assign a project manager to start the implementation of Phase 1. Then the
following activities will begin as per the implementation schedule found in this business case:
Communications to the divisions affected and the corporation as a whole
Creation of an implementation team
Construction of the additional workstations in the Corporate Call Centre
Construction of the Welcome Centre
Discussions with the Unions regarding the new positions
Creation of the job descriptions in order to facilitate hiring of staff
Creation of the Corporate Call Centre training program
In addition, the team will begin work on the business case and implementation plan for Phase 2 of
this project.
Jeannie Murphy
Project Manager
New Corporate Customer Service Program
Office of the Chief Administrator
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Pr~en~ IIy. CAO~S ORiCeD~ Se~7t 2Ay ZOO7
Business Case
Corporate Customer Service Program
Table of Contents
Section 1 Executive Summary ................................................................................3
Why Implement a Corporate Call Centre? ........................................................ .........3
Section 2 Customer Service Committee ....................................................... .........6
Section 3 Background .................................................................................... .........7
Overview ............................................................................................................ .........7
Feasibility Study ................................................................................................. .........8
Survey of Kitchener Citizens ............................................................................. .......10
Customer Service Foundation -Current Status ............................................... .......12
Section 4 Project Description ........................................................................ .......13
Overview ............................................................................................................ .......13
Deliverables ....................................................................................................... .......15
A. Evaluate Kitchener Utilities Model Viability ................................................... .......16
B. Identify Operating Areas to be Integrated into a Central Model ................... .......17
C. Identify What the New Corporate Call Centre Will Look Like ....................... .......18
D. IdentifyWhat the New Customer Service Welcome Centre Will Look Like .......30
Section 5 Risk Assessment ........................................................................... .......31
Section 6 Cost/Benefit Analysis .................................................................... .......34
Section 7 Implementation Strategy ............................................................... .......37
Section 8 Communications Strategy ............................................................ .......40
Section 9 Conclusion and Next Steps .......................................................... .......41
Executive Summary
Why Implement a Corporate Call Centre?
Results from both the 2003 Contact Centre Feasibility Study and the 2004 Citizen Survey indicate
that customer service approaches across the City of Kitchener are not integrated or consistent.
Furthermore citizens would like the Corporation to enhance staff training to improve knowledge and
customer service skills, and to improve the phone system, particularly with a live voice to answer
calls. They also suggested having a single point of contact. The results of the Environics survey
reinforce and support these findings. A Corporate Call Centre will address these needs.
Benefits of the Proposed Corporate Call Centre to Citizens
A Corporate Call Centre will effectively manage increased demands from citizens by implementing a
centralized single point of contact. The primary benefit of implementing a Corporate Call Centre is
being able to provide better customer service to our citizens. Public confidence in local government
can be linked to service experiences with the government.
Specifically, the changes or improvements that citizens will experience when they call the City
include:
• 24 / 7 live person
• No voicemail or automated menus to choose from
• Knowledgeable, well trained CSR's
• More calls answered on first contact -less transfers to other departments
• Single number to call when contacting the City of Kitchener
• Consistent, up to date information given out to all citizens
Benefits of the Proposed Corporate Call Centre to the City
The City will initially incur operating budget increases to fully staff the new Corporate Call Centre and
Welcome Centre. The bottom line is that customer service costs money. However, some efficiency
may be gained by consolidating formerly dispersed services across the organization into one unit,
gaining economies of scale by deploying and maximizing available technology, and by selecting and
training staff specifically in the operations of the Centre. Citizen requests will also be tracked and
reported on a regular basis providing feedback on the performance of the organization.
With respect to staffing levels, the intent is to transfer funding for the customer service representatives
CSR's) from the divisions which are integrating into the Corporate Call Centre, thereby minimizing
the financial impact of this initiative.
Proposed Corporate Call Centre
The implementation of a Call Centre has been divided into two phases.
Phase ~ -Transitional Call Centre
Phase 1, which is the focus of this business case, transitions existing decentralized call centres into a
Corporate Call Centre by expanding the existing Kitchener Utilities dispatch centre located at
Elmsdale Drive into a new Corporate Call Centre. This new Corporate Call Centre will be a separate
division operating under Financial Services. The Kitchener Utilities dispatch centre will cease to exist
but its Customer Service Representatives ~CSR's~ and equipment will be transferred to the new
Division. Citizens will continue to call the existing phone numbers for the various divisions; however,
the phone calls will now be answered 24 / 7 by a live voice in the Corporate Call Centre.
Counter services will remain at the existing locations.
Phase 1 is estimated to be completed by October 2008. The time-line for integration (or "Go Live"
date) into the call centre for the first three divisions will be:
Enforcement May 2008
Legislative Services June 2008
Operations September 2008
A new Customer Service Welcome Centre will be added adjacent to the Rotunda in City Nall to
help direct visitors and answer walk-in inquiries. The Centre will also have a Tourism representative
as tourism is a compatible service. The two representatives will be able to provide full coverage for
these services at all times during business hours.
Phase 2 -Corporate Call Centre
Phase 2 will expand the Corporate Call Centre to handle calls for all City departments, with a goal of
being able to answer 80% of the calls on first contact without transferring the call. There will be one
City phone number (i.e. 741-CITY/2489) for all non-emergency municipal services which be
answered by the Corporate Call Centre. Existing Direct-dial-in (DID) numbers will be eliminated.
The location of the Corporate Call Centre will reside within the Consolidated Maintenance Facility
(CMF) should it be approved by Council. If the CMF proposal does not receive approval by Council
other locations will be evaluated.
Counter services will remain at the existing locations and a study will be done to examine the
feasibility of expanding payment and inquiry services to satellite locations such as the Community
Centres to provide citizens with more options for face-to-face inquiries with the City. The
implementation plan for Phase 2 will be created at a later date and will not be part of this business
case.
Why use the Kitchener utilities Model?
The decision to create a Corporate Call Centre based on the call centre model currently in place for
the gas utility was based in part on the efficiencies the corporation would gain from expanding a
model that had much of the infrastructure and procedures in place to improve our service levels.
Rather than recreating the wheel and searching for external models, the Utilities model was examined
in detail and was assessed as to whether it will meet the needs of the other City divisions. The
approach was to first establish criteria under broad categories of physical space and business
process compatibility and then to measure the model against the criteria. Once this analysis was
complete, it was determined that based on these categories, the Utilities model did meet the needs of
the other City divisions.
Financial Implications
Phase 1 of this project will incur estimated new operating costs of $107,494 and capital costs of
$143, 500.
The operating costs will be funded partially from the tax base ($88,773) and partially from sewer
operations ($18,722). The two FTEs to be transferred have not been specifically identified, but
there is a commitment to manage the budget target either through a transfer of FTEs or
efficiencies in the program.
The capital costs will be fully funded by the existing Customer Service capital account.
Recommendations
That Council approve the Corporate Customer Service Program as outlined in the attached business
case and staff report CAO-07-044, dated September 12, 2007, and
That the operating and capital budgets required to implement phase one of the Customer Service
Program in 2008 be referred to the 2008 budget process; and
That upon final budget approval, implementation of phase one of the Corporate Call Centre proceeds
immediately.
Next Steps
Once the implementation plan and budget have been approved, the following activities will begin as
per the implementation schedule found in this business case:
• Nire or assign a project manager (current secondment expires in Dec/07)
• Communications to the divisions affected and the corporation as a whole
• Creation of an implementation team
• Construction of the additional workstations in the Corporate Call Centre
• Construction of the Welcome Centre
• Discussions with the Unions regarding the new positions
• Creation of the job descriptions in order to facilitate hiring of staff
In addition, the team will begin work on the business case and implementation plan for Phase 2 of this
project.
Customer Service Committee
The Corporate Call Centre project falls under the responsibility of the Office of the Chief
Administrator.
The purpose of the Customer Service Committee is to research, document, and provide information
in their area of expertise as it pertains to the business case. In addition, the committee reviews the
progress of the project, monitors project performance, provides feedback, and assists the Project
Manager in obtaining the necessary commitments from divisions in providing required information for
project success.
Customer Service Committee Members
Carla Ladd Executive Sponsor
Jeannie Murphy Project Manager
Barry Nash Kitchener Utilities
Mike Lahn Information Technology
Dan Daly Numan Resources
Corina Tasker Performance Measurement & Internal Audit
Michael May Communications
Michelle Fardy Finance
Nans Gross Project Administration
Rhonda Bosch R.Bosch Consulting
6
~~ Background
Overview
dike many public sector organizations, the City of Kitchener has experienced increasing demand for
easy, convenient access to services. Citizens First 4, a national survey of citizen expectations,
satisfaction levels, and priorities, identified a link between service quality and citizens' confidence in
government. Taxpayers judge local government and municipal performance based in park on the
delivery of service. When municipal service does not meet taxpayer expectations, citizens may
feel resistance to paying taxes or accepting tax increases.
According to Citizens First 4, five drivers of satisfaction explain over 75% of satisfaction or
dissatisfaction with service. Those drivers are:
• timeliness (how satisfied citizens are with the time it takes to get service);
• knowledge (staff are knowledgeable);
• extra mile (staff are courteous and go the extra mile);
• fair treatment (citizens felt they were treated fairly); and,
• outcome (end result -did the citizen get what he or she needed).
To better gauge the current customer service delivery methods at the City, a Feasibility Study,
prepared by R. Bosch Consulting in 2003, was undertaken to review several areas. The findings
indicate that in most cases, customer service is treated as a peripheral function and not the `core'
activity within the divisions. As a result, customer service approaches are inconsistent across the
divisions that were reviewed.
The Customer Service Committee also commissioned a study of Kitchener citizens to determine their
experiences and expectations with the Corporation's customer service. On average, citizens reported
being satisfied with the amount of time it took for them to get what they needed, the accessibility of
the service, and their overall experience with the Corporation. However, nearly half of the citizens
said they experienced difficulties when they tried to contact the City. Citizens said that they would like
the Corporation to enhance staff training to improve knowledge and customer service skills, and to
improve the phone system, particularly with a live voice to answer calls. While the City is doing well in
many instances, improvements are needed to meet citizens' expectations consistently.
In 2005, the City hired Environics Research Group to conduct an extensive community survey
on resident's social values and their vision for the City over the next twenty years. As part of
that survey Environics asked residents several questions directly related to the City's customer
service delivery. The results of the 2005 Environics survey reinforced the results of the previous
customer service survey and clearly indicated that while a majority of residents have been
generally satisfied with the City's customer service delivery; nearly half of them have
experienced difficulties when trying to contact the City.
A Corporate Call Centre presents an opportunity to improve service delivery, increase citizens'
satisfaction with customer service, and to become more consistent and efficient as an organization
with respect to how we deliver services.
Feasibility Study
A Contact Centre Feasibility study was completed in July 2003. The purpose of this feasibility study
was to investigate the value of deploying a centralized `single point of contact' customer service
centre within the City of Kitchener. The potential need for this type of service has emerged due to an
increasing demand for City services and increased frustration of citizens trying to find the right person
to answer their questions.
The feasibility study was based on the finding that employees within the five divisions studied,
(Mayor's Office, Enforcement, Legislative Services (Clerks and Licensing) and Revenue) dedicate a
significant portion of the day responding to citizen concerns, providing information and resolving
issues. Considerable energy is devoted to customer service delivery and citizen responses;
however, the attempts are inconsistent throughout the organization. This inconsistency is evident in
the following areas:
1. Delivery of Customer Service Standards
2. Telephone System Design and Set-up
3. Managing Citizen Requests
4. Information Accuracy and Availability
5. Managing External Phone Lists
1. Delivery of Customer Service
Presently, the City of Kitchener has informal decentralized divisional call centres. The development
of these centres occurred due to the City's need to service area-specific citizens.
Currently, there are several published telephone numbers to access particular services within the
City. Often, citizens may not discern between services provided by individual areas, resulting in the
transfer of numerous calls. Unfortunately, when the appropriate division is reached, the citizen often
encounters voicemail messaging rather than a live voice. This transferring of callers perpetuates
frustration as each area works independently with minimal collaboration between the workgroups.
2. Telephone System
When the published City numbers are called, there is little consistency in the actual telephone
scripting or queuing methodology across the organization.
Phone programming within the organization varies. Some phone lines have the ability to queue the
calls, while others continue to ring until the call is answered by a live voice. For example in By-Law
Enforcement individuals have the ability and option to leave a message. By contrast, Legislative
Services callers do not have the option toleave amessage -they must wait until someone answers,
or hang up and try again. There is minimal consistency between the various telephone systems and
how telephone calls are managed.
3. Managing Customer Requests
Each area strives to solve as many citizen calls on first contact as possible. However, in cases
where the Customer Service Representative is unable to solve the request /complaint, there is
limited ability to assign the problem electronically. Inmost cases citizen requests /complaints are
managed with minimal procedures or tracking. As a result, senior management cannot evaluate the
performance of the corporation with respect to customer service. The division's tracking software is
listed below:
Workgroup Tracking Software Manual Process
Enforcement Uses the Amanda software None
to generate any
complaints/request
generated by a citizen
requiring a By-Law Officer
investigation.
Office of Mayor None Calls are documented in an
& Council Excel Spreadsheet and a
case file is opened,
4r, requests which cannot
be answered within the
area are transferred
Legislative None Requests which cannot be
Services (Clerks answered within the area
Office) are transferred
Legislative None Requests which cannot be
Services answered within the area
Licensing) are transferred
Revenue None Requests which cannot be
answered within the area
are transferred
4. Information Accuracy and Availability
Information sharing between departments is limited. General questions ranging from: `What is the
price of a monthly parking permit?' or `At what community centre is there public swimming on Sunday
afternoon?' are transferred to the appropriate area (in most cases7. These types of frequently asked
questions are not provided to the front-line staff to better service the citizen. Each area is protective
of their information; consequently the organization operates in silos. Front-line employees have
minimal option but to transfer citizens to the appropriate divisions for answers to their concerns.
5. External Phone Lists
Front line staff at the City often receive calls from citizens requesting external phone numbers, i.e.
Region of Waterloo, Hydro, Elections Canada, Registrar's Office, Passport, etc. Most Front Line staff
will manually manage a personal list of external numbers. The list of numbers is posted on personal
workstations and referred to when necessary. There is also a hard copy resource, the "A - Z binder,
which was developed by a front line staff person in DTS. Byword of mouth, the benefits of this tool
have circulated throughout the City to other front line areas, and are therefore used by most front line
staff. There is also a manual called "City Nall 101" developed by Community Services staff for
neighbourhood associations and other citizen groups which has proven to also be very helpful to
front-line staff with access to the document. However, updating and maintaining such documents
have proven to be cumbersome with no schedule or consistency as to when updates will occur. This
approach to managing external phone numbers is ineffective and leads to inconsistencies and
duplication of effort.
Survey of Kitchener Citizens
As noted above, in 2004 the Customer Service Committee commissioned focus groups and a survey
of citizens to provide quantitative insight on current levels of performance and preferred contact
methods. The research also aimed to provide direction on service improvements that would have the
most value for citizens. The focus groups and survey, which were completed by Quarry Integrated
Communications, gathered input from citizens from all Wards in the City. The survey was completed
by 501 citizens.
The following are some highlights of the survey:
What communication method do citizens prefer to use?
Most citizens preferred contacting the City via telephone.
This is consistent with the responses in the focus groups. Citizens indicated that the telephone is the
preferred manner of contacting the City for its immediacy, convenience, and because many
respondents have a strong desire for the "personal touch" of a "live voice".
0
as
c
U
L
L
L
a
Telephone : 62%
Internet ''' 15%
In-person ~~~~ 4%
Email °
Posted mail 1%
Other QO%
%of Participants
How frequently do citizens contact the City?
Other ~1%
,~~, About once a year ' 1
U
Few times a year 1
`~ Several tim es a year (7+) 7%
0
3 About once a month ~ 3%
0
About once every two weeks ~ 2%
0
3 or more times a week
42%
Firsttime
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%
%of Participants
10
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% ~0% 70%
• 42% of citizens said this was the first time they had contacted the City about this service
• This finding was true for people new to Kitchener as well as those who had lived in Kitchener
for a number of years
• Approximately 80% of respondents contact the City less than a few times a year
What problems did citizens have when they tried to qet in touch with the City?
Had Problems
47%
Had No
Problems
of Citizens
Top 5 Problems
Too long to
Of the 47% of citizens who had problems, Did not know return calllNo
18% identified their problem as being where to look response Telephone lines
1 a%
transferred firom one person to another. ~ 2% were busy
J 9%
Trouble with an Other Problems
automatic _
'~ 36%
telephone ~
answering
system Transferred from
15% one person to
another
18%
of Citizens Having Problems
Almost half of citizens indicated that simplicity is the most important factor in improving the
community's access to services and information. The remainder of the responses was split between
timeliness and cost.
What do citizens tell us to improve?
The top recommended improvement was to enhance staff training. Specifically, ensure that staff can
address needs or direct citizens to a person who can address the need; increase customer service
skills; and ensure staff feel and act accountable and responsible for addressing citizens' needs.
Other suggested improvements included having a live voice answer incoming calls, and better
organizing the phone book to make it less confusing.
In the focus groups, citizens indicated they would prefer a central number to call when contacting the
City. They also indicated they were more concerned with the process of interaction than the
outcome. Focus group citizens indicated a general recognition that not all problems can be solved in
the manner desired, but that they should at least be managed with courtesy, competence, fairness,
and in a timely manner.
~~
Customer Service Foundation -Current Status
In response to the 2003 feasibility study and the 2004 customer survey and focus groups, a business
case was presented to Council in June 2005. It recommended that regardless of which customer
service delivery model was selected, a customer service foundation was required in order to begin
improving customer service across the Corporation. Council approved the immediate
implementation of the foundation which included these components:
• A customer service philosophy
• Customer service standards
• Hiring a Customer Service Manager
• Improving signage at City Nall
• Re-development of the City Internet website
• Creating a Customer Service Welcome Counter at City Nall
• Tools to help front-line staff including FAQ's, telephone upgrades, CRM software, telephone
voice recognition
• Review the City listings in the Blue Pages and make them more clear
• Creating and providing customer service training across the Corporation
• Reduction in DID's Direct-In-Dial)
~au~dati~n far or~er~t ~rpe l~~oplete ~~~~t
Customer Service Philosophy
Customer Service Standards ~ Still to be rolled out to the
Corporation
Hire a Customer Service Manager 0 Customer Service Project
Manager secondment created
as an interim step; included in
the implementation plan of this
business case
Improve signage at City Nall
Re-development of the City website ~ Referred to a separate Website
Internet / Intranet} project team
Create a Customer Service Welcome 0 Included in the implementation
Counter at City Nall plan of this business case
Customer Service tools (i.e. FAQ's, ~ Will be investigated as part of
telephone upgrades, CRM software FAQ, City-wide Phase 1 of this project, but not
telephone CRM implemented until Phase 2 of the
upgrades) software project
Review of City listings in the flue
Pages
Customer Service training nodule X^ Will be rolled out in conjunction
with the Customer Service
Standards.
Reduction In DIDs ~ Implementation timing to be
~~ determined
12
r~ Project Description
Overview
The majority of the pieces of the Foundation, as approved by Council in Report CAO-05-019, are in
place. A Corporate Call Centre is the next step required to improve customer service at the City of
Kitchener. The implementation of a Corporate Call Centre has been divided into two phases.
Phase 1-Transitional Call Centre
Phase 1, which is the focus of this business case, transitions existing decentralized call centres into a
Corporate Call Centre by expanding the existing Kitchener Utilities dispatch centre at located
Elmsdale Drive into a new Corporate Call Centre. This new Corporate Call Centre will be a separate
division operating under Financial Services. The Kitchener Utilities dispatch centre will cease to exist
but its Customer Service Representatives (CSR's) and equipment will be transferred to the new
Division. Citizens will continue to call the existing phone numbers for the various divisions; however,
the phone calls will now be answered 24 / 7 by a live voice in the Corporate Call Centre.
Counter services will remain in the existing operating areas. Anew Customer Service Welcome
Centre will be added adjacent to the Rotunda in City Nall to help direct visitors and answer walk-in
inquiries. The Centre will also have a Tourism representative as tourism is a compatible service. The
two representatives will be able to provide full coverage for these services at all times during business
hours.
Phase 1 is estimated to be completed by October 2008. The time-line for integration (or "Go Live"
date) into the call centre for the first three divisions will be:
• Enforcement May 2008
• Legislative Services June 2008
• Operations September 2008
See the section on page 17 for discussion on how these divisions were selected to be integrated in
Phase 1.
Phase 2 -Corporate Call Centre
Phase 2 will expand the Corporate Call Centre to handle calls for all City departments, with a goal of
being able to answer 80% of the calls on first contact without transferring the call. There will be one
City phone number (i.e. 741-CITY/2489) for all non-emergency municipal services which be
answered by the Corporate Call Centre. Existing departmental direct-dial-in (DID) numbers will be
eliminated.
The location of the Corporate Call Centre will reside within the Consolidated Maintenance Facility
(CMF) should it be approved by Council. If the CMF proposal does not receive approval by Council
other locations will be evaluated.
Counter services will remain at the existing operating areas and a study will be done to examine the
feasibility of expanding payment and inquiry services to satellite locations such as the Community
Centres to provide citizens with more options for face-to-face inquiries with the City. The
implementation plan for Phase 2 will be created at a later date and will not be part of this business
case.
13
CURRENT PHASE 1 - 2008
Decentralized Centralized Call
Call Centres Centre
Kitchener' !tilities
operations
Enforcement
Leg~is fated Services
Cal'I~ Centre at
Elmsdalle
Staged transition
of the folllowing~
Functions
• Kitchener '~ itillities
• aperatipns
Enfiorcem~ent
L'egisfated Services
Revenue
Recreation.
Decentralized Walk-in
Counters at City Hall
• inquiries
• payments
Decentralized Walk-i
Counters at City Hall
• inquiries
• Payments
Welcome Centre
Phase 2 - TBD
Centralized Call
Centre
Callll Centre at
CMIF~
Continue transition:
• Revenue
• Recreation
• Rem~aining~ front-Dine
`business processes
~~:.
Decentralized Walk-in
Counters at City Hall
• inquiries
• Payments
Welcome Centre
14
Deliverables
In order to complete this business case, the following exercises were undertaken:
A. Evaluate Kitchener Utilities Model Viability
Kitchener Utilities (KU~ currently has a successful Call Centre model in place which operates 24-7
and takes most after-hours calls for the City. This section examines the KU model in detail and
assesses whether it will meet the needs of the other City divisions. The approach the team has
taken is to establish criteria under the broad categories of physical space and business process
compatibility and then to measure the model against the criteria.
B. Identify operating areas to be integrated into a Corporate Call Centre
The purpose of this exercise was to establish criteria and measure each division against the criteria
to determine if they are a good fit for transition into the new Corporate Call Centre. All divisions have
been rated against the criteria. Divisions which met all the criteria will be transitioned to the
Corporate Call Centre in Phase 1. Divisions which meet greater than 50% of the criteria will then be
phased in after the initial divisions have been successfully integrated into the new Corporate Call
Centre. Divisions which meet less than 50% of the criteria will be reviewed for future consideration.
This step was done in tandem with evaluating the Kitchener Utilities model in order to help identify
staffing requirements and assess spacing needs.
C. Identify what the new Corporate Call Centre will look like
The purpose of this task was to ensure there is a clear vision for the new Corporate Call Centre so
that the implementation plan could be created to achieve it.
D. Identify what the new Welcome Centre will look like
The purpose of this task was to ensure there is a clear vision for the new welcome Centre so that the
implementation plan could be created to achieve it.
15
A. Evaluate Kitchener Utilities Model Viability
The decision to create a Corporate Call Centre based on the call centre model currently in place for
the gas utility was based in part on the efficiencies the corporation would gain from expanding a
model that had much of the infrastructure and processes in place to enhance service delivery within
the organization. Rather than recreating the wheel and searching for external models, the Utilities
model was examined in detail and was assessed as to whether it will meet the needs of the other
City divisions. The approach was to first establish criteria under broad categories of physical space
and business process compatibility, and then to measure the model against the criteria. Once this
analysis was complete, it was determined that based on these categories the Utilities model did meet
the needs of the other City divisions.
Kitchener Utilities Model Viability
Criteria Evaluation
Physical Space
Enough space for 2 CSR's? Yes
Future growth potential? Partial -room for 2 more CSR's
Business Process Compatibility
Phone system
Expansion capacity Yes - able to handle additional
hones
Serviceability Yes -covered under current
contract
Dependability Yes -call centre has emergency
backup phone system
Computer Systems
Dependability Yes -backup generator in case of
ower failure
Meet /exceed current levels Yes -provides additional tracking
of service and reporting functionality
Hours of operation
Meet /exceed current hours Yes - 24/7
Customer service levels
Meet /exceed current levels Yes -CSR's trained to handle
most calls on first contactor
warm transfer
It should also be noted that a study of alternate call centre models, which was done as part of the
2003 Feasibility Study, showed that creating a new call centre from scratch would cost in excess of
$600,000. By using an existing model and location, there are considerable cost savings. The
infrastructure is in place and is able to accommodate Phase 1 of this project.
16
B. Identify operating areas to be integrated into a central model
Through the combined efforts of our consultant and committee members, the following criteria were
developed to identify the divisions that would transition to the Corporate Call Centre:
• Nigh Call Volume
• Repetitive Calls (60 - 70 % are answered on first contact)
• Call Time < 3 min (short call duration length is less than 3 minutes)
• Information could easily be accessed on line
• Ease of transition
• Complaints to Office of Mayor & Council
• Services are currently centralized or partially centralized
• ~abourlunion considerations
• Dispatch function
Front line service areas were analyzed using the above criteria and were identified as either meeting
all the criteria (Phase 1), or meeting at least 50% of the criteria (Phase 2)
Based on this analysis, the following front-line service area transitioning strategy was developed:
Phase 1-met 100% of the criteria
• Legislative Services (Clerks Office)
• Enforcement
• Kitchener Utilities
• operations
Phase 2 -met 50%+ of the criteria
• Numan Resources -general inquiries (ie. Job fairs, summer employment)
• IT -general inquiries (ie. GIS maps)
• Revenue -Taxes
• Planning -general inquiries (ie. Zoning)
• Engineering -general inquiries (ie. Service installations/locates)
• Community Services -general inquiries (ie. Recreation, Arenas)
• Kitchener Market -general inquiries
• Parking Operations -leased or monthly parking
The service areas that met 100% of the criteria will be the first divisions that make up the Corporate
Call Centre. It is anticipated that the Corporate Call Centre will be operational eight months following
Council approval.
17
C. Identify what the new Corporate Call Centre will look like
The following areas are included in this section:
• Current Call Centre model
• Corporate Call Centre model
• HR Strategy
o Organizational Structure
o Training requirements
• Facility setup and design
• Technology deployment
o Hardware
o Application software
o Website
o Telephony
• Service Level Agreements
18
Current Call Centre Model
The City currently operates with several decentralized call centres and customer service counters,
specific and unique to each division. There are no linkages between the divisions. Each division has
its own phone number and phone system to handle incoming calls, which has been a source of
frustration to both citizens and staff. The following chart illustrates these differences in the four
divisions that will be transitioned to the new Corporate Call Centre in Phase 1.
Kitchener Operations Enforcement Legislated
Utilities Services
# of staff 3 FT, 8 PT 6 FT,1 PT 2 FT 5 FT
Annual Call 200,000 23,400 30,000 31,200
volume
Hours of 24 hrs, 7 days Sam - 4pm, 8:30am - 5pm, 8:30am - 5pm,
operation Monday to Monday to Monday to
Friday Friday Friday
Call routing Calls enter a Calls enter a Caller reaches Calls ring
during office queue, which queue, which an automated across all CSR
hours are all are answered message with desks ono
answered by by the next office hours and queuing
the next available CSR location; call is system); calls
available CSR placed through continue to ring
to the CSR or if until someone
CSR picks up
unavailable,
caller can leave
a voicemail
After hours NlA Calls are IVR voicemail No after hours
call routing automatically system with 3 service;
routed to options: l) phones
Kitchener Property continue to ring
Utilities Standards 2)
Parking , 3)
Noise; option 2
pages an officer
who is carrying
a cell phone;
options 1 & 3
go to voicemail
which is
retrieved by
officers in each
area
Voicemail None None As per above, None
IVR voicemail
system
Call Tracking ACR IIMS Amanda None
Software
As part of the implementation plan, it will be necessary to create a detailed process mapping for each
division, including how calls are answered, tracked, reported and what information is needed to assist
citizens.
19
Corporate Call Centre New Business Model
It is proposed that the new Corporate Call Centre use the existing Kitchener Utilities call centre
business model. This model provides 24 / 7 service. This call centre also has been running
successfully since 1973 and has continued to improve its service levels to citizens and staff. The call
centre location at Elmsdale is already established and there is space available to add workstations
for the additional staff requirements to accommodate the higher call volumes.
Existing customer request tracking software is effective for tracking call details, assigning work, call
follow-up and resolution, and for providing statistics for planning purposes. Through the Active
Citizen Response system, the well-trained staff is logging all citizen requests/complaints. In this way,
data is collected for reporting purposes and benchmarking. Also, all calls are recorded for customer
service compliance and regulatory compliance. They have in place astate-of-the-art radio dispatch
system which is used to contact the customer service utility crews as well as after hour's emergency
crews for the City of Waterloo and local Regional police. The call centre is equipped with a powerful
generator system so that it is never without electricity and therefore is seldom subject to an
interruption in service.
11 CSRs currently work in the call centre. All incoming calls are answered by a live voice. If all lines
are busy callers are placed in a queue and are answered by the next available CSR. CSRs have
relevant information relating to both the Utilities division and other general City information to answer
the call without transferring it. The KU call centre takes after hours calls for other City divisions such
as Operations (which includes Parks, Roads, and Sewers and monitors related sewer alarms), all
other City alarms, after hours emergency calls for the City of Waterloo, and other after hours calls for
citizens as this is the only City number which is staffed 24 / 7 with the exception of Fire Dispatch.
If, during business hours, the CSR is unable to answer the question, a warm transfer to the
appropriate division occurs. If the call is after hours and an emergency the CSR will contact the On
Call personnel for that division. If the call is after hours and not an emergency, the CSR will either
inform the citizen of the phone number they can try the next day, or forward them to the contact's
voicemail (if they have one? or submit an email to the contact on behalf of the citizen for follow-up
depending on the citizen's preference. They later follow-up to ensure the call was resolved. All calls
are recorded for quality and training purposes. Details of the calls are logged in the appropriate
systems.
In order to implement this model, the phone lines for Legislative Services, Enforcement and
Operations would be redirected to the Kitchener Utilities call centre. Therefore, there is no change to
the way that the citizen contacts the City for those services. The difference will be that the calls will
be answered 24 /7 by a live, highly trained Customer Service Representative. Once these 4
divisions have been successfully integrated into the Corporate Call Centre, other divisions will follow
based on the criteria in step B.
All counter services will remain at existing operating locations and continue to be staffed by the
various divisions. Most staff from those divisions who previously spent all or part of their day
answering phones will be reassigned to other duties within the division. It is assumed that duties will
be reassigned in such a way as to facilitate transfer of staff and budget dollars to the new Corporate
Call Centre to cover the cost of the additional CSR's required. The details surrounding this will be
worked out during communications with the various affected unions.
In addition, one or more staff from each division will be designated as the "Content Administrator" and
will be responsible for informing the Corporate Call Centre of any updates to their general
information. This can be completed using the web site, fax, email, or hardcopy. At a minimum
reference material will be reviewed monthly by the Content Administrator to ensure it is up to date.
This will new job activity will become part of their job descriptions.
The existing Quality Call Monitoring Program will allow for assessment of the quality of service
citizens receive with respect to customer service compliance and regulatory compliance which is
governed by our performance standards. Monitoring occurs as follows:
20
• 100% - all calls are recorded
• 100% - a survey is distributed to rental water heater customers who ask customers to rate the
level of service they received from our call centre agents, our service staff and our authorized
contractors.
• 15% -daily call monitoring by crew leader or call centre supervisor
• 10% - written survey or telephone survey is conducted by call centre agents to our customer
appliance customers
The Active Customer Response (ACR) system allows for various reports to be run for corporate
reporting to senior management or Council as needed. The type of information available on these
reports includes:
Data gathered:
• customer service issues/complaints
• customer questions on city services
• contractor (city authorized) complaints--excellent tool for RFP's/tendering processes
• high gas/water consumption complaints
• road snow issues
• leaf issue/complaints/questions
• pot hole issue/complaints
• complaints on city staff
• staff compliments
• suggestions
Reporting Opportunities:
• email notification of each issue/complaint/question could be sent to divisional
administrator, supervisor, manager etc.
• reports for all issues/complaints/questions could be viewed by Council or the CAO
• reports of each could be viewed divisionally by Director, GM etc.
• reports could be divided by ward and accessed by councilors.
• if follow-up contact hasn't been completed within timelines laid out for each
issue/complaint/question a second email will be submitted by ACR
Corporation Efficiencies:
• ensuring customer needs are followed up on a timely basis which would eliminate call
backs from citizens therefore reducing stress on city staff.
• would improve communication between city staff & councilors
• ensuring contractors hired by the city are following proper procedures
• ensuring contractors hired by the city follow up with citizen complaints/questions
z~
HR Strategy
Organizational Structure
The existing Utilities Call Centre is positioned within the Customer Relations section of the Utilities
Division. The organizational chart for this is attached below. The Support Services unit, comprised
of a Supervisor, a Crew Leader and CSRs is currently directly involved in the handling of calls from
the public and essentially functions as the existing Call Centre.
Utilities-Customer Relations (current)
Supervisor, Customer
Service (0147)
Gas Serviceperson "A"
(7010)
(x6)
Gas Serviceperson "B"
(7009)
(x5)
General Manager, Financial
ServiceslCity Treasurer (0260)
Director, Utilities
(0478)
Manager, Customer
Relations (0120)
Supervisor,
Support Services
(0138)
Gas Meter Repair
Crew Leader (7027) Dispatch Crew
Leader (7024)
Gas Meter Repair A
(7018)
Dispatcher A (7020)
Meter Setter A (Gas (x3ft)
Only) (7014) (x5 pt)
Water Meter Repair
Crew Leader (7050)
Dispatcher B (7021)
(x3 pt)
Water Meter Repair
A (7038)
(x3)
Support Person
(7052)
Gas Service
Inspector (7006)
22
After careful analysis, the current model at the utility will be used and expanded in order to deliver a
broader range of customer information and service. As a result, a proposal to reorganize the existing
section has been developed. A proposed organizational chart is attached..
Phase 1-Corporate Call Centre Phase 2 -Corporate Call Centre
CAO GM, Financial GM, Financial
Services Services
Manager, Manager, Administrative
Project Customer Customer
Marra er Support
g Relations Service
Supervisor, Welcome
Support Welcome Supervisor,
Services Centre Agent Call Centre Centre Agent
Crew Crew
Leader, Lea
der,
CSR' n
CS s
s
CSR' CSR's
s
13 Existing +
11 Existing + 1 new
2 new
Systems
Administrator
Job descriptions and job evaluations will be completed once the project has received Council
approval.
23
The main revisions to the existing Call Centre in the proposal are:
Phase 1:
Position Job Description FTE New ~E
Manager of Customer Relations Responsible for day to day operations 1 No
(existing role in utilities) of the Call Centre ensuring that the
centre meets customer service
compliance and regulatory
compliance
Supervisor of the Corporate Call Responsible for team of CSRs 1 No
Centre (existing role in utilities)
Project Manager Responsible for implementation of 1 No
Phase 1
Additional Customer Service Provide front line customer service to 2 Yes
Representatives (CSR) residents via telephone, email and fax
Phase 2:
Position Job Description FTE New ~E
Manager of Customer Service A strategic role. Represents the 1 Yes
liaison between the Corporate Call
Centre and the rest of the
organization. Will also assist with
Phase 2 departmental transitions
into the Corporate Call Centre;
assist departments with creating
training material; liaising with
service areas to build partnerships;
strategic management of customer
service initiatives
Supervisor of the Corporate Responsible for team of CSRs 1 No
Call Centre
Additional Customer Service Provide front line customer service 1 Yes
Representatives (CSR) to residents via telephone, email
and fax
Administrative Support Provides administrative support to 1 Yes
the Call Centre and Manager of
Customer Service
Systems Administrator Bridge with IT for technology 1 Yes
support in the corporate call centre
for all applications
Training Requirements
There will be a formal training program for the Corporate Call Centre staff. The formal training
program will cover the following areas:
Customer Service Skills Systems Applications
• Active listening • Dispatch • ACR
• Multi-tasking • Telephone • IIMS
• Conflict resolution Email management l1SS
• Business processes for CIS
utilities, operations, by-law Scotland Yard
and legislative services On-point
• Laserfisch
• Parking software
• Amanda
• Outlook
The formal training program will take 3 - 4 weeks to complete by successful incumbents.
25
Facility Setup and Design
The existing Kitchener Utilities call centre can be expanded by removing two walls (shown with
dotted lines in the floor plan below) and constructing 4 workstations for the CSR's and the Systems
Administrator. Space can be found in other areas of the building to accommodate the Manager of
Customer Service and Administrative Support.
26
Technology Deployment
Technology will play a key role in the success of the Corporate Call Centre. For call centres to be
effective and efficient the right tools and technologies have to be installed and they have to be
integrated with appropriate business systems in order to deliver the most value. Building a reliable
technology infrastructure is essential to support a Call Centre within the Corporation.
In general, technology requirements in a Call Centre can be classified into four distinct categories:
1. Hardware -includes PC's and other equipment to fulfill day-to-day operational needs of the Call
Centre.
2. Application Software -Includes department specific application software required by CSRs as
well asenterprise-wide applications that deliver information consistently and accurately. Some
examples are: Knowledge management software, contact management, workforce
management, customer relationship management etc.
3. Web -Includes the use of Internet/lntranettedrnologies within the Call Centre to deliver
information to the agents as well as the external public.
4. Tele hon -Includes the phone system that will play a critical role in the Call Centre. This also
includes Interactive Voice Response ~IVR) and Computer Telephony Integration.
Based on the decision to use the Kitchener Utilities model for Phase 1, the specific requirements in
each of those four areas are as follows:
Hard ware:
Each workstation in the Kitchener Utilities call centre contains the following hardware:
• 1 PC including monitor, keyboard, mouse
• 1 ROLM phone and PlanTronics headset
• 1 emergency Bell phone
• 1 two-way radio
• 1 desk Ito fit a 9X9 cubicle space)
• 1 chair
During Phase 1 two new workstations will be required with this equipment for two CSRs.
During Phase 2 two new workstations will require the above equipment for 1 CSR and 1 Systems
Administrator. In addition, standard workstations will be required for the Manager of Customer
Service and Administrative Support. The location of these will depend on whether the CMF has been
approved and completed.
Application Software:
Each PC in the KU call centre is loaded with the following software which should also be loaded on
the 2 new CSR PC's:
• outlook
• uss
• ITX
• CIS
• ACR
• 0n-Call
• Pagemaster
• ~npoint
• Laserfiche
• Weblocate
• Scotland Yard
With the addition of Enforcement to the Corporate Call Centre, all 9 PC's (7 existing and 2 new) will
require AMANDA software to be loaded as well.
27
As part of Phase 2 of this project, an evaluation of the Customer Request Management (CRM)
software and which type of software should be used to hold the corporate information used by the
CSR's (knowledge base) should be conducted.
The Manager of Customer Service and the Administrative Support PC's will require standard desktop
software.
Website:
As citizens become more comfortable with the use of the Internet, there is an expectation that their
government will adapt to the change. Web technologies, both Intranet (internal) and Internet
(external) currently play an important role.
Intranet: The Corporate Call Centre must have an Intranet site that links to tools and resources that
can be easily referenced and updated. These links would be used by the Call Centre CSRs on a
regular basis to look up information for citizens who phone the call centre. Some examples of the
tools available on the Intranet:
• Frequently called phone numbers
• Bulletin board for postings like emergencies or general information for the agents to share
• Internet links to local, provincial, federal and social-service websites
• Event calendar
Expanding the existing intranet site with some additional tools such as a search capability, would help
the agents have access to the same data, increasing the accuracy of the information given to the
citizens. In order for this to be effective it is also important that Divisional Content Administrators are
assigned and trained to update the content on the intranet relating to their division on a timely basis.
Internet: When the Corporate Call Centre is launched, it becomes important to have a presence on
the internet. This webpage serves many purposes:
Serves as a marketing tool, communicates the existence of a Corporate Call Centre, its value to
the community and its importance to the organization
Creates a place where self-service applications can be deployed for the community to use in an
effort to reduce the calls to the Call Centre
Enables the Corporate Call Centre to communicate important information to the site visitors
An integrated web presence strategy (internet and intranet) is currently being developed by another
project team. It is critical that the web site be improved to provide better search capabilities, accurate
information and ease of use for both the CSR's and the public, prior to launching the Corporate Call
Centre.
Telephony:
Strategically, the Corporate Call Centre will be the point of entry for all citizen phone calls.
In Phase 1, citizens will continue to call the existing phone numbers for the 3 divisions which will be
transitioned into the call centre. The calls will be seamlessly routed to the Corporate Call Centre
where they will be answered by a CSR 24 / 7.
28
In Phase 2, all divisional non-emergency direct dial in numbers will be eliminated and citizens will call
one number (741-CITY) to reach the Corporate Call Centre. The corporation currently owns the 741-
CITYline. The benefits of having a single point of contact for all non-emergency municipal inquiries
are threefold:
1) This line will always be answered by a live voice -there is no voice mail
2) 80% of ALL incoming calls will be inquires that will be answered by a customer service
representative
3) For those calls that require a service request/work order that is handled by the customer service
rep - at this point the citizen will receive a reference number. If a work order is not required, a
warm transfer will occur.
If citizens wish to reach a specific employee they will also have the option of calling 741-3400 and
entering the 4-digit extension of the employee. In order for this to be effective, the current system
needs to be upgraded to include an employee directory on the 741-3400 line. The benefits of this line
are threefold:
1) Citizens are able to access staff directly by entering their extension, if known, and are connected
with the employee directly.
2) Citizens are given the opportunity to enter the last name of staff and search through a staff
directory to find the correct employee and connected directly
3) Citizens are given the opportunity to push "0" and will be put through directly to the Corporate
Call Centre where they will speak with a customer service representative for assistance.
The functionality of the current telephone system can support Phase 1 of the Corporate Call Centre.
Studies are underway to see if it will be adequate to support Phase 2.
Reduction of DIDs Direct-In-Dial)
A Corporate Call Centre would allow the corporation to reduce the number of DIDs. There are
currently 825 active DID numbers at the City of Kitchener used to connect directly with employees
and departmental services. Savings from reductions of DIDs will be absorbed by changes to the
infrastructure at the new Corporate Call Centre.
Technology Related Next Steps
• A technology evaluation group should be formed that will review key CRM and software
technology requirements for the Corporate Call Centre. This step will be completed once all key
citizen interactions and business processes have been established. It is recommended that this
group include individuals from three areas (IT, User, Outside Consultant).
• A detailed review as to a CRM direction should be established. Given that the current
Infrastructure Management and Financial Systems are in the RFP phase consideration for
technologies offered by selected vendor should be considered.
• The current ACR application being used in Kitchener Utilities should also be assessed.
• Business Requirements for all technology components of the Corporate Call Centre should be
developed. The Business Requirements will form the foundation for all software requirements
and will be used to develop RFP requirements.
• After the Business Requirements have been identified and approved then RFP's can be
developed to acquire appropriate solutions to address the business needs.
29
Timelines
It is expected that the development of the Business Requirements for the Corporate Call Centre
could take approximately 4-6 months and would be part of Phase 2.
Service Level Agreements
In order to maintain a seamless transition from the decentralized call centres to the new Corporate
Call Centre it is vital that service level agreements (SLA's) between the divisions and the Corporate
Call Centre be created. These SLA's would outline which types of calls the call centre will handle and
which ones they will transfer. It will also outline the responsibilities inboth areas for updating relevant
information pertaining to the division. These agreements must be reviewed and updated at least
annually.
D. Identify What the New Customer Service Welcome Centre Will Look Like
The space designated for the Welcome Centre is located directly across from the Cashier counter on
the ground floor of City Nall. This area will be the focal point for visitors to City Nall. Visitors to City
Nall will be assisted with information both verbally and through information materials that they can
take away with them. It will also be the location for the Tourism office as this is a compatible service
The space will be furnished with pieces of antique furniture from 41d City Hall which is currently in
storage. Facilities Management will assist with creating a space that is both inviting and functional. It
should at a minimum consist of:
A wheelchair accessible desk /counter with space and chairs for two people (Welcome Centre
Agent and Tourism Representative)
1 computer (Tourism may also require their own computer)
Display racks for Tourism and City related brochures or literature
Based on the assumption that the Welcome Centre will be staffed initially during business hours only
(Monday to Friday, 8:30 am - 5:00 pm), 1 FTE will be required to fulfill the Welcome Agent role.
Should a decision be made to staff this centre outside of business hours, for example during the early
evening or on weekends, alternate staffing arrangements would need to be made, such as using two
part time staff to cover the total hours.
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r~ Risk Assessment
A risk is a factor or event that may jeopardize the project from achieving the anticipated benefits or
increase the cost of the project. The following definitions of probability, impact and classification are
used across the Corporation to assess various risks.
Probability of Risk
• Almost Certain indicates that the risk event is extremely likely to occur at the City of
Kitchener on a regular basis (at least once per year).
• Likely indicates that the risk event is likely to occur frequently in municipal environments
and/or has occurred at the City of Kitchener.
• Somewhat Likely indicates that the risk event is likely to occur periodically in municipal
environments.
• Unlikely indicates that the risk event is likely to occur infrequently in municipal
environments but has happened in the past.
Impact of Risk
• Critical indicates that the risk event has an extremely significant impact to the project.
• High indicates that the risk event has a significant impact to the project.
• Medium indicates that the risk event will impact the project.
• Low indicates that the impact is relatively minor to the project.
• None indicates that the risk will not impact the project.
Risk Classifications
• Service Delivery -the risk of not meeting citizen expectations.
• Work PlacelNuman Resources -the risk that employees, contractors or other people at
the City of Kitchener will be negatively impacted by a policy, program, process or project.
• PubliclCommunity -the risk that the policy, program or action has a negative result on
specified target groups of citizens in Kitchener.
• Environment -the risk that natural capital will be damaged
• Reputation -the risk associated with anything that can damage the reputation of the
Corporation of undermine public confidence in it.
• Finance -risk relates to decisions about assets, liabilities, income and expenses including
asset management, capital and operational funding, economic development, theft and
fraud.
~~
Project Risk Probability Impact Risk Classification
Assessment
Risk 1-Employee Likely Medium Work Place /Numan
acceptance: the risk of Resource
employees not
accepting the Call
Centre Model due to
significant organizational
and procedural
changes.
Risk 1 Mitigation Involve key personnel in the business process review process. Inform other
Strategy users of progress of the project on a timely basis. 4n-going training.
Leadership comes from the top.
Risk 2 -Requirements Somewhat likely Nigh Service Delivery
assessment: risk that
project requirements are
not well defined
Risk 2 Mitigation Continue to involve key stakeholders throughout the evaluation process.
Strategy
Risk 3 -Capital Somewhat likely Nigh Finance
Financial Risk: risk that
there is not enough
money in the budget to
fund
Risk 3 Mitigation obtain additional funding through the budget process. Develop a
Strategy contingency fund for the project.
Risk 4 -Leadership: Somewhat likely Nigh Work Place/Numan
the risk of senior Resources
management
(decision makers} not
supporting initiative
Risk 4 Mitigation Continued involvement in the process and on-going communication and
Strategy regular updates
Risk 5 -Technical Somewhat likely Medium Service Delivery
Risk: the risk that
changes do not meet
the needs of the citizen
Risk 5 Mitigation Review lessons learned from other municipalities who have implemented
Strategy this technology.
Risk 6 - anion Likely Nigh Workplace/Numan
Resistance to new job Resources
classifications
Risk 6Mitigation Continue to involve union in the consultation process in determining the
Strategy recommended solution.
Risk 7 -Internet Likely Medium Service Delivery
Strategy - Web site not
redesigned in time to
support new Call Centre
Risk 7 Mitigation Continue to involve IT/Communications inthe consultation process to
Strategy ensure linka e between the 2 ro'ects. Develo alternate means of
Project Risk
Assessment Probability Impact Risk Classification
obtainin information for the CSR's should the web site not be read in time.
Risk 8 -Public Somewhat likely Medium Finance
Perception of Call
Centre costs relative
to tax rate
Risk 8 Mitigation Develop appropriate communication strategy prior to bringing this business
Strategy case forward to Council.
r-~~ Cost /Benefit Analysis
Benefits to the Citizen
The primary benefit of implementing a Corporate Call Centre is being able to provide better customer
service to our citizens. Public confidence in local government can be linked to service experiences
with the government. The Corporate Call Centre addresses the five key drivers of customer
satisfaction as follows:
~. Timeliness
In the past citizens may have tried to call the City outside of normal business hours and had to either
leave a voicemail or call back the next day. The survey results indicate that they wish to reach a live
voice and not voicemail. By providing 24 / 7 service coupled with an effective queuing system,
citizens will have their call answered faster and their concern addressed quickly by a live person.
2. Knowledge
In the current environment, if the customer dials the wrong City department, calls are transferred cold
to the correct department, often reaching voicemail. In addition, there is inconsistency in some
general information given out to citizens as there is no process for keeping contact lists and
information up to date across the Corporation.
This new model will ensure the CSRs get extensive training on the divisions they are supporting as
well as general information regarding the rest of the Corporation. This will mean fewer transfers to
other divisions. Support tools such as the Intranet will provide easy to access information for the
CSR's. Content administrators will be required to regularly update information for the Corporate Call
Centre as part of their jobs, ensuring that the information given to citizens is current and consistent
across all CSR's.
3. Extra mile
Approaches to customer service and the level of service given vary greatly from division to division.
The implementation of Corporate Service Standards and general Customer Service Training for all
staff will ensure a consistent delivery of service.
4. Fair treatment
This driver of customer satisfaction relates to the citizens perception of being treated fairly. As
with driver three (Extra Mile) the implementation of Corporate Service Standards and general
Customer Service Training for all staff will ensure a consistent and fair delivery of customer
service across the corporation.
5. Outcome
While it is not possible to set any quantitative criterion with respect to outcome, organizations
should strive to create positive outcomes in each instance where the customer's goal is valid.
When the outcome is negative, it is even more important for the other four drivers to be handled
well -even negative outcomes can be dealt with in ways that generate more satisfying
experiences.
The five drivers remain the primary determinants of service excellence. Timely service,
knowledgeable staff that go the extra mile to help citizens, fair treatment, and a successful
outcome combine to create excellent service.
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Benefits to the City
By providing a higher level of customer service to our citizens, the City will experience less
complaints and more satisfied citizens. The City will initially incur operating budget increases to fully
staff the new Corporate Call Centre and Welcome Centre. The bottom line is that customer service
costs money. However, some efficiencies may be gained by consolidating formally dispersed
services across the organization into one unit, gaining economies of scale by deploying and
maximizing available technology, and by selecting and training staff specifically in the operations of
the Centre.
Citizen requests will also be tracked and reported on a regular basis providing feedback on the
performance of the organization. This will allow the Corporation to gain a better understanding of the
customer service we are providing. Reporting tools will allow for more analysis and may lead to
process improvements.
Costs
Corporate Call Centre
Costs to Implemenf Phase 1
Phase 1
Capital Costs - Transifional Call Centre 2008
Space
Renovations to Kitchener Utilities 18,750
Technology
Consultant costs 10,000
Purchase of additional headsets/telephones 4,400
Upgrade server for 741-3400 30,000
Licence Fees Amanda 10,000
/3.1 ~U
Capital Costs -Welcome Centre
Space
Renovations to welcome Centre (City Hall) 9,500
Total Capital Expenditures 82,650
Available Funds:
170051 CAP/CUSTOMER SERVICE STRATEGY 113,500
338004 Telephone Reserve 30,000
143,500
Additional Capital Funds Requested: None at this time. 0
Funding will be provided from Customer Service Strategy capital account and the computer reserve
for Phase 1. Due to the uncertainty surrounding future technology requirements and potential location
within CMF, capital costs associated with future phases of the project have not been determined.
35
Corporate Call Centre
Incremental Operating Costs
Annual Operafin_g Costs -Call Cenfre
Technology
Annual Maintenance Fees Amanda
People
Manager of Customer Service
Project Manager
Supervisor
Additional CSRs
Administrative Support
Systems Administrator
Telephone Reserve Charges
Computer Reserve Charges
Training
Team Building/Mist
Prajecf Contingency
Operating Costs, Transitional Call Centre
Revenue Contributions
City of waterloo
Estimated Net Annual Operating Costs, Transitional Call Centre
Annual Operafin_g Costs -Welcome Cenfre
People
welcome Centre Staff
Telephone Reserve Charges
Computer Reserve Charges
Estimated Operating Costs, Welcome Centre
Estimated Net Annual Operating Casts
Less:
Manager of Customer Service (existing budget)
Transfer existing positions re CSRs
Tofal Additional Operafing Funds Requested
Costs allocated as follows:
Sewer Operations
General Expenses (Tax -based)
2,550 2,550
103,032 103,032
89,043 -89,043 0
98,839 98,839
118,167 53,673 171,840
60,563 60,563
80,223 80,223
1,738 3,476 5,214
2,040 4,080 6,120
3,000 3,000
1,500 1,500
10,000 10,000
228,038 314,843 542,881
542,881
50,135 50,135
852 852
1,000 1,000
51,987 51,987
280,025 314,843 594,868
54,364 54,364
118,167 53,673 171,840
172,531 53,673 226.204
107,494 261,170 368,664
18,722 21,050 39,771
88,773 240,121 328,893
107,494 261,170 368,664
Interim ratings have been given to all new positions in the Corporate Call Centre for Phase 1 and 2.
These ratings are subject to change and do not get a final rating until they go through the Rating
Committee.
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~' Implementation Strategy
In order to implement Phase 1 of the Corporate Call Centre, it is critical that a project manager be
designated to lead this implementation, separate and distinct from the new Customer Service
Manager position. The current seconded project manager role for this business case expires in
December 2007. Therefore, this role must be extended to oversee the implementation or a new role
must be created and staffed. There is currently funding for this role in the operating budget.
It is also critical that an implementation team, which may or may not consist of the members of the
current business case team, be created. This team would require representation from the following
areas at a minimum:
• I.T. -for PC and software set up and configuration
• I.T. Telephony -for telephone set up and configuration
• Facilities Management -for workstation construction and furniture setup
• N.R. -for union negotiations, job descriptions, PDQ's recruitment
• Operations, Enforcement, and Legislated Services -for business process integration
• Kitchener Utilities call centre -for consultation on current processes, integration
• Process Mapping - require a dedicated resource, subject material expert, training/crafting
website
• Others as required
The implementation strategy provides the high level activities that need to be completed in order to
achieve the project. Many of the activities can occur in parallel. For example, the IT team can
develop functional requirements and document technology needs; process documentation can be
completed by the subject matter experts; and the facilities group can create the facility design all
independently of each other.
37
Implementation Schedule:
Activities Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov
200 200 200 200 Zoos Zoos Zoos Zoos Zoos Zoos Zoos Zoos Zoos Zoos Zoos
Re ort to CMT
Approval of
Business Case
-Council
Meeting with
Organization
re:000
Evaluation of
CRM Vendor
Corporate Call
Centre Facility
Construction
and Redesi n
Welcome
Centre Facility
Construction
and Redesi n
Discussion with
Union(s)
Job
Descriptions
and Interim
PDQ's
Evaluation of
Call Centre
Positions
Selection and
Hirin of Staff
Review KU for
processes for
im rovements
Process
Mapping
Enforcement
Activities
Creation of
CRM Service
Re uest & SLA
Creation of
Enforcement
Knowled ebase
Enforcement
Training
Pro ram
Go Live with
Enforcement
Services
Process
Mapping
Legislative
Services
ACtlvitieS Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov
2007 2007 2007 2007 2008 2008 2008 2008 2008 2008 2008 2008 2008 2008 2008
Additions to
Knowled ebase
Creation of
CRM Service
Requests and
SLA
Legislative
Training
Pro ram
Go live with
Legislative
Services
Process
Mapping
Operational
Services
Additions to
Knowled ebase
Creation of
Service
Requests and
SLA
Operations
Training
Pro ram
Go Live with
Operations
Services
The business case and implementation plan for Phase 2 will be started in November 2007.
~~ Communications Strategy
The Corporate Communications team would work with the customer service project manager to
develop a detailed communication strategy once the project is approved by Council. It will
include the following components:
Phase 1 Internal Communications Plan
Communication to staff of the divisions who will be transitioning to the Corporate Call
Centre in Phase 1; this will include timing, what is expected of them regarding process
mapping and transition, and clarification around job roles
Communication to the rest of the Corporation with an update on the status of the project
Phase 2 External Communications Plan
Marketing strategy to promote awareness in the public of the 741-CITY phone number
and its benefits
Continuing communications to affected staff and the Corporation as a whole
40
r~ Conclusions and Next Steas
In conclusion, implementing a Corporate Call Centre will improve customer service across the
Corporation. Citizens will now receive 24 / 7 service by knowledgeable, well trained CSR's. There
will be more calls completed without transfers.
Once the Corporate Call Centre is transitioned to the 741-CITY number in Phase 2, citizens will find it
easier to reach the City since there will be only one number to call.
Staff will be better equipped to answer citizen questions through such tools as Customer Service
training, online search tools and a regularly updated knowledge base.
Once the implementation plan and budget have been approved, the most critical next step to make
this a reality is to hire or assign a project manager to start the implementation of Phase 1. Then the
following activities will begin as per the implementation schedule found in this business case:
• Communications to the divisions affected and the corporation as a whole
• Creation of an implementation team
• Construction of the additional workstations in the Corporate Call Centre
• Construction of the Welcome Centre
• Discussions with the Unions regarding the new positions
• Creation of the job descriptions in order to facilitate hiring of staff
In addition, the team will begin work on the business case and implementation plan for Phase 2 of
this project.
41